WFMT and the program Relevant Tones presents its Third Annual Thirsty Ear Festival at the City Winery, featuring performances by Fonema Consort, Gaudete Brass, and Graham Reynolds. This two-hour program will be broadcast on Chicago's WFMT, but join us live for an evening of music and drinks in the beautiful City Winery!

Fonema will perform a set of theatrical works by Aperghis, Pablo Chin, and Hector Parra.

As part of a partnership with the Chicago Park District, Fonema Consort presents Sand and Stone, a concert whose sounds and impetus evoke both natural and spiritual matters. Sand and Stone combines the intimate atmospheres and echoing plasticity of Giacinto Scelsi's “Sauh II”, “Ko-Loh” and Ryan Krause's "sense títol", with the subtle virtuosity of Chicago's own Juan Campoverde's "Umbrales": sand gardens and stone temples.

Juan Campoverde, Umbrales for two sopranos, flute and guitar
Aaron Cassidy, The Crutch of Memory, version for solo double bass
Ryan Krause, sense títol for flute and double bass
Kaija Saariaho, Adjo for soprano, flute and guitar
Giacinto Scelsi, Sauh II for two female voices

Fonema Consort is thrilled to present its first album, “Pasos en otra calle,” which compiles vocal and instrumental works by Costa Rican composers Pablo Santiago Chin and Mauricio Pauly, and that is partially funded by the “Dotación Musical” Grant from the Costa Rican Association of Musical Authors (ACAM).

As Fonema's musicologist in residence, Etha Willimas writes in the liner notes: "the music by Mauricio Pauly and Pablo Chin collected on Fonema Consort's debut recording explores the boundaries of form—where structures are endangered by the very tensions that sustain them—and of meaning—where words verge on pure sound and where musical sound is itself loosed from its conventional moorings."

Selections from the CD and other chamber works will accompany this special evening.

Tickets $10/$8

Boschiana for soprano, saxophone and piano by Pablo Chin
Persona for solo double bass by Pablo Chin
Libros de Marc for solo flute by Pablo Chin
vs. el monopolio de la memoria for violin, saxophone and piano by Mauricio Pauly
Apertura del Becerro for soprano and cello by Mauricio Pauly
Ochre 2 for electric guitar and tape by Alejandro Cardona

Ten years since its only performance at Julio Estrada’s home country, Fonema Consort performs his 30 minute piece Mictlan, derived from his opera “Murmullos del Páramo,” at the Foro Manuel Enríquez in Mexico City, thus marking Fonema’s Mexican debut, and third international appearance. In addition to collaborating with Estrada, Fonema presents pieces by its resident composers Pablo Santiago Chin and Joan Arnau Pàmies featuring Kathryn Schulmeister as bassist and vocalist/actress, and Daniel Peter Biro’s “Be Mitzraim” for percussion and the percussionist’s voice, featuring Ryan Packard.

BeMitzraim for solo percussion by Dániel Péter Biró Como la leyenda de Tlön for vocalist/actress and percussion by Pablo Chin Mictlan for soprano, double bass and percussion by Julio Estrada [k(d_b)s] for solo double bass by Joan Arnau Pàmies

Fonema Consort retorna a Costa Rica para presentar su primer álbum "Pasos en otra calle", que compila obras vocales-instrumentales de los compositores costarricenses Pablo Santiago Chin (chicago) y Mauricio Pauly (manchester), y que fue parcialmente financiado por la "Dotación Musical" de ACAM. Como nos dice la musicóloga Etha Williams en las notas del disco:

"La música de Mauricio Pauly y Pablo Chin reunida en el primer álbum de Fonema Consort explora límites formales—donde las estructuras son amenazadas por las mismas tensiones que las sustentan—y de significado—donde las palabras rozan el sonido puro, y donde el sonido musical es así mismo liberado de sus amarras convencionales."

Selecciones del CD y otras obras de cámara del repertorio de Fonema Consort acompañarán esta noche especial en la Sala Maria Clara Cullel de la Escuela de Música de la Universidad de Costa Rica.

During the last week of April, Strasbourg-based contemporary vocal ensemble Voix de Stras' will visit Chicago as part of an American tour, where they will be joined by Fonema Consort to deliver two collaborative concerts in Evanston's Musical Offering and Chicago's Constellation Theater. Both events will be centered around the premieres of four pieces written for the occasion by composers Ivan Solano and Clara Olivares from the Conservatoire de Strasbourg, and Chicago's own Pablo Santiago Chin and Morgan Krauss, in addition to representative works from both ensemble's repertoire. These concerts will bring together the interest of both groups in exploring the human voice through the works of emerging composers, and their particular approaches to such mission, as well as merging the tastes and voices of two rich new music scenes. We are also pleased to welcome mezzo-soprano Kayleigh Butcher as special guest soloist.

Strasbourg Instantanés for voices by Georges Aperghis
(in)armonia: motetes (WORLD PREMIERE) for 8 voices by Pablo Chin
Two Walking (excerpts) for two voices by Pascal Dusapin
Apprehending distinction (WORLD PREMIERE) for 6 voices and double bass by Morgan Krauss
Cantar del Alma by Caroline Março
Nebula (WOLRD PREMIERE) for 6 voices and flute by Clara Olivare
Adjö for soprano flute and guitar by Kaija Saariah
Kyogen (WORLD PREMIERE) for 6 voices by Ivan Solano

This project is made possible by the support of the Institut Français in Paris

During the last week of April, Strasbourg-based contemporary vocal ensemble Voix de Stras' will visit Chicago as part of an American tour, where they will be joined by Fonema Consort to deliver two collaborative concerts in Evanston's Musical Offering and Chicago's Constellation Theater. Both events will be centered around the premieres of four pieces written for the occasion by composers Ivan Solano and Clara Olivares from the Conservatoire de Strasbourg, and Chicago's own Pablo Santiago Chin and Morgan Krauss, in addition to representative works from both ensemble's repertoire. These concerts will bring together the interest of both groups in exploring the human voice through the works of emerging composers, and their particular approaches to such mission, as well as merging the tastes and voices of two rich new music scenes. We are also pleased to welcome mezzo-soprano Kayleigh Butcher as special guest soloist.

Strasbourg Instantanés for voices by Georges Aperghis
(in)armonia: motetes (WORLD PREMIERE) for 8 voices by Pablo Chin
Two Walking (excerpts) for two voices by Pascal Dusapin
apprehending distinction (WORLD PREMIERE) for 6 voices and double bass by Morgan Krauss
Cantar del Alma by Caroline Marçot
Nebula (WOLRD PREMIERE) for 6 voices and flute by Clara Olivares
Adjö for soprano flute and guitar by Kaija Saariaho
Kyogen (WORLD PREMIERE) for 6 voices by Ivan Solano

This project is made possible by the support of the Institut Français in Paris

How often someone says after a concert, “that instrument sounded like a human voice!”. In our deep conviction that the role of the human voice has been reborn in recent decades as a leading and powerful source of musical material, Fonema Consort presents Singing Instruments as part of a partnership with the Chicago Park District. This program showcases the use of vocal resources to transform instrumental writing, through the influential music of Kaija Saariaho, Georges Aperghis, and the seductive, fully imaginative sounds of Chicago's Katherine Young. Phonemes (which inspired the name of our consort) merge with traditional flute performance in Saariaho's "Laconisme d'aile"; BeMitzraim demands the utmost of the percussionist as he both sings and plays; and the organic use of non-traditional instruments by our vocalists defines the identity of Young's new work. this program culminates with the ultimate crossroads between instrumentalist and vocalist, converging in the music theater of Aperghis' Les sept crimes de l'amour.

Georges Aperghis, Les sept crimes de l'amour, for soprano, clarinet and percussion Dániel Péter Biró, BeMitzraim for singing percussionist Kaija Saariaho, Lachonisme de l’aile for solo flute Stratis Minakakis, new work for two voices playing percussion Katherine Young, New work for two sopranos, bass clarinet and baritone saxophone

AMPLIFIED features works uniting acoustic instruments with the electronic medium, a continued interest of Fonema Consort which resulted in the ensemble's participation in the Loops and Variations series at Pritzker Pavillion last summer. This program brings together adventurous works of subtle complexity, including a commission from Alexander Sigman based on his collaboration with filmmaker and visual artist Damir Ocko, and that serves as the foundation for a future chamber opera. This concert also features works by Chicago's own Juan Campoverde and Nomi Epstein, Danish composer Simon Steen-Andersen's Difficulties Putting it into Practice, in which minute, simple noises reveal a new sonic body when magnified. Simon Steen-Andersen, Difficulties Putting it into Practice, for two amplified sopranos Alexander Sigman, epiglottis, for two sopranos, flutes, cello, contrabass, electronics, and video projection *WORLD PREMIERE Juan Campoverde, Muna I, for solo guitar with tape Erin Gee, Mouthpiece VI, for soprano, flute, viola, double bass and percussion Nomi Epstein, Pillars and Glisses, for two sopranos, flute, clarinet, electric guitar, piano, violin and cello

Centering upon Yuunohui, the cornerstone work of charismatic composer Julio Estrada, this concert initiates a long-sought collaboration with one of the most imaginative and influential composers of the last decades. "Clay and water", the meaning of the Nahuatl word yuunohui, defines the sculptural, kinetic approach to music characterizing this program. Fonema Consort is proud to present the world premiere of a version of Yuunohui for trombone, bass and piano, and to welcome rising star trombonist Felix Del Tredicci, and Chicago's own pianist/composer Christopher Jones. This program also features the US premiere of Mauricio Pauly's Dust Unsettled, which will be part of Fonema’s first recording project, scheduled for release in the Spring of 2014.

Pablo Chin, Boschiana, for soprano, tenor saxophone and piano *WORLD PREMIERE Julio Estrada, Yunnohui'Ehecatl'Nahui'Tlapoa, version for trombone, piano and double bass *WORLD PREMIERE Julio Estrada, Yuunohui'Ehecatl for solo trombone Heinz Holliger, Lied , version for bass flute and ad lib. amplification Stratis Minakakis, new work for two sopranos playing percussion *WORLD PREMIERE Mauricio Pauly, Dust Unsettled, for soprano, trombone, cello, piano and percussion

A program that takes the performer out of her comfort zone is brought to the Comfort Music Series at Logan Square to kick off Fonema Consort’s 2013-14 season. The Comfort Station will become an intimate, modern amphitheater to witness some of the finest dramaturgia in music today. In solo works by James Bean and Stratis Minakakis, the performer’s need to express battles the limitations of the lungs; like Minakakis' AGGELOI III, Hector Parra's Mort d'Antigone revives the timelessness of Greek drama; the primitive rites of ancient times may resound in the raw soundworld of James Dillon's A Roaring Flame and Giacinto Scelsi's Ko-Loh.

Fonema Consort's breathlessly frantic set will be followed by the mellow and atmospheric music of Chicago's Weatherman band (http://weathermancan.com/band).

Fonema's season opening concert is free of charge- donations suggested by Comfort Station. James Bean, This Will Rub Against My Grid II A for solo alto flute James Dillon, A Roaring Flame, for soprano and double bass Stratis Minakakis, AGGELOI III for solo female voice Hector Parra, Mort d’Antigone, for mezzo-soprano and clarinet Giacinto Scelsi, Ko-Lho, for flute and clarinet Shawn Lucas, new work for two sopranos, flute, and double bass *WORLD PREMIERE

After a first musical engagement with the City of Chicago this summer at the Loops and Variations Series, Fonema Consort shares stage with a wide variety of music groups from all over the city during the Chicago Music Summit Showcase, presenting two fierce and never-resting duos by James Dillon and Beat Furrer.

Beat Furrer, Invocation VI for soprano and bass flute James Dillon, A Roaring Flame for soprano and double bass